Joseph e



'2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Mo'del) s. P. M. TASKBR.-

Y BOTTLE STOPPER.

Patente-d Jan. 22

,|NvENToR wwNEssEs;

lla C N. FEYERS. Pholerlitmgnplm, washington. 1:4 C.

. 2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

s. P. M. TASKBR.

vBOTTLE STUPPBR.

No. 292,449. Patented Jan. 22, 1884.

WITNESSES:

N. PETERS. Pmmmmmpmr. wash'ingmm a .UNTED STATES STEPHENP. M. A'TASHEE, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNoE To JOSEPH E. TASKEE, or SAME PLAcE.`

PATENT- 1'- ENCE..

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming par't of Letters Patent No. V292, .1Jl9,vdated January 22, y1884.

Application tiled Julyl, 1853. (X model.)

To aZZ whom may concern,.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN l?. M. TASKER, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an'Automatic Stopper for Bottles, Jars, and kindred containing devices, of which the following is aspecication. f

My invention relates in general to the class of devices employed for closing the mouths of ro bottles, jars, or other vessels by means of stoppers connected with bails and adapted to'be retained in place against the pressure of the bottlels contents, and relates specifically to the class of Stoppers which are connectedI with the bails `and are adapted to be swung laterally off with the bail when the stopper-locking .devices have been operated to effectuate the release of the stopper,

., A good form of a convenient embodiment of my invention is hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l v, represents in side elevation, and Fig. 2 in `centralvertical Sectional elevation, a jar equipped with my improved stopper or cover. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of one of the stoppcrl operating bell-crank levers. Figs. land 6 are, respectively, a side elevation anda vertical central section of abottle embodying my improvements,` and Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the same. r

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

- The object of my invention is the provision' of a stopper or cover for jars or bottles which is adaptedto seat itself on topl of the rim, chine, or mouth of the jar or bottle, and lwhich is not only retained tightly thereupon by automatically-operating.mechanicaldevices, but which is also more rigidly seated or tightened iu place by the pressure of the vessels contents, so that the device is especially applicable to vessels or bottles containing eifervescent fluids.

Referring iirst to the first three figures of the drawings, which represent my device as applied to a fruit-jar, A is the body of a jaror kindred vessel, of vitreous or other material, the rim or chine of which is supposed 5o trued off or leveled in a horizontal plane.

4B is a bail of strong wire or other suitable material, pivoted to a bail-ring, C, preferably seated in a sunken head, D, formed circumfer-Y entially in the jar. y The bail is capable-oi` a swinging movement about its pivotal conne`ction with the bail-ring. v

5 A 'E is a circular or other shaped diaphragm, of rubber, leather, or other elastic ilexible ma terial.

i Fisacentraldiskorlever-rest,oi`metal,wood, glass, or other suitable substance, which is of less diameter than the diameter'of the mouth of the vessel;l and G is an annular ring,"iit'ted to surround the disk, and preferably composedof metal, although it may be made of other substance. The disk, ring', and diaphragm together constitute the cover or stopper proper of the vessel;

H is what I terma stopper-stem,77 beingA a bolt or rod of metal, passing, in the arrangement shown,vertically through the diaphragm and disk, so as to connectthe two together,

and passing up through a hole in the bail or a perforated boss or washer, c, integral :'With the bail, through' a tubular rubber spring orv cushion, I, and terminating in a1 presser but-v ton or knob,` J, rigidlyconnected with itiand adapted to hold the rubber spring or cushion in place upon the bail. The ring G'is preferably,'although not necessarily, connected with the exible diaphragm. v

KK are two bell-crank levers or cams, pivotally connected with or fulcrumed to the bail upon either side of its boss in such-position that one arm of each lever rests upon the disk and the other arm of each-lever rests upon the ring.

Sbueh beinga description of the several mem-A bersv or contrivances together,-in their'as IOC tremities of the levers which rest upon the disk, so as to cause the elevation ofthe opposite extremities thereof which rest upon the ring. In this condition of parts the stopper can be swung with the bail or slipped `laterally from the mouth of the vessel. In order to close the vessel the bail is swung until the stopper is concentric with the mouth or in proper position thereupon. Pressure upon the button or knob is then removed, whereupon theA rubber spring or cushion expands and forces the button or knob upward away from the bail,with the further result that the stopper-stem, following the button, lifts with it the disk, and causes the latter to exert an upward pressure upon the extremities of the bellcrank levers which rest upon it, so as to cause thedeflection of the outer extremities of said levers which rest upon the ring, and the consequent exertion of their pressure upon said ring, which in turn presses downwardly upon the diaphragm, and effects a hermetical sealing ofthe cover proper upon the mouth of the vessel through the compression of the diaphragm thereupon.

It is obvious that the above result is dueto the recoil or expansion of the rubber spring or cushion; but it is also obvious that the pressure of the bottlcs contents operating against the flexible diaphragm, and, through themedium of the latter, against the disk, tends to force upward the disk and to exert further pressure upon thelevers, so as through them to cause further downward pressure upon the ring, and the exterior or circumferential portion of the diaphragm.l which is p between the ring and the chine of the vessel.

The result of the pressure of the bottle/s contents in this device of mine is different from the same result as produced upon internal stoppers which are forced into a seat within'the neck or niouth of -a vessel, for the reason that I utilize said pressure, through the instrunientalities described, to firmly seat and retain seated an external stopper or cover as opposed to one within the vessel.

In Figs. 4, 5, and (5 I have represented my devices as applied to an ordinary bottle, and, as will be readily observed by comparison of the two sheets, the construction and arrangement of the device is practically identical. The bail-ring is shown seated below the bead ofthe neck of the bottle as opposed to being seated in a slinken bead upon the body of the jar. I have also represented a spiral spring between the button and bail instead of a rubber cushion. I have in addition shown the inner ends of the beltcrank levers as weighted. YThese several changes, however, are merely mechanical.

It will of course be understood that the de tails of construction and application of the bail and bell-crank levers and the various parts composing the cover proper can be varied without departure from the invention strictly as such. Thus the levers may be made in the form of pivotcd cams, and the diaphragm need not be secured to the stem.

It is obvious that my device is self tightening, not only by virtue of the expansion of the spring, but by the pressure of the vessels contents when of such character as to generate pressure.

It is also obvious that while the most convenient and best form of the contrivancc upon which theinner extremities of the levers rest is that of a disk, as represented and described,

it is perfectly competent for me to vary the form of the disk and to use instead simply a diametric bar, plate, or kindred contrivanee upon which the inner extremities of the le- :vers can rest, and which will tend to transmit ,the movement imparted to the stem to which they are connected to the inner extremities of said levers.

Having thus elaim- As an improvement in Stoppers or covers for bottles, jars, and other vessels, the combination, with a bail secured to the vessel, of a cover composed of -a flexible diaphragm, a ring resting thereon, a disk or rest for theinner arms of the levers,a stem connected with the disk and provided with a head or pressure knob, a spring or cushion interposed hetween the bail and the pressure-knob of the stem,and bell-crank levers or cams pivotcd to t-he bail, and resting as to their inner extremities upon the disk, and as to their outer extremities upon the ring, the construction being such that the cover as an entirety is seated externally `upon the neck of a bottle or vessel, and is held in place thereon bythe expansion of the spring and the pressure of the bottles contents, substantially as set fort-h.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto si gncd my name this 30th day 0f June, A. l). 1883.

STEIHEX l. 3l. TASKER.

In presence of- J. BoNsA'LL TAYLOR, Joux Jo'LLnr, Jr.

described my invention, I

IOO 

